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Note - most stories are fictional and do not refer to anyone in particular living or dead. True stories will say they are true!

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Saturday, November 10, 2012

MY WESTWARD TREK Chapter 4

Morgan was assigned to caring
for the passengers. This was something he had never done before because the
ships he had sailed on only carried cargo.

Occasionally someone
associated with the shipping line would sail but they had to care for
themselves.

Here he was expected to see
to the needs for the passengers who came from every walk of life. There were
the rough and rowdy guys who would just as soon throw you overboard as not.

The plain ordinary men who
just wanted to get to California
and make their fortune. And the genteel upper class society folks.

During the day most would
like to walk the decks and enjoy the sunshine because it dark and damp below. A few of the state rooms were better but
still everyone needed exercise.

From the beginning Morgan
knew his was going to be the toughest job of them all. He had seen how tension would build up on a
voyage and nerves get on edge which could lead to trouble. This was the reason
the Captain chosen Morgan for the job for he sensed there was a toughness about
him but it was tempered with respect.

There was one other thing the
Captain did and that was to lay in a few barrels of grog. Morgan told the Captain he didn't think that
was a good idea and they should dump it over board. Instead the Captain assured him
that in the next months when the closeness of the ship would cause tensions to
rise to a boiling point, a stein of grog would do wonders to soothe the anger
that might arise. This was especially true if there was added to it a sleep
inducing drug.

The Captain waxed eloquent
saying; “When under sail and cabin fever prevails. There is nothing like what a
glass of ale can do, when all else fails.”

Morgan chuckled at the
Captain's wit for he had not shown this side of his personality before. He was (had to be) always stern, and
demanding.

The captain’s strict manner
was of necessity forceful and at the same time interesting.

Morgan soon realized he
needed to sharpen his people skills. He had
to deal with the cooks, inspecting their cooking methods, making sure the food
was palatable and fit to eat. The cooks didn't appreciate his criticism for the
galley was supposed to be their domain.

Morgan knew that sailors
didn't like to have women on board and he began to see why. When the ladies were on the deck getting their
exercise all attention was focused on them, and crude remarks were directed
within their earshot.It seemed as if some
of these men thought that conversational language must be laced with swear
words and vulgarities.

Morgan had very little
control over this and advised the women to walk up on the Captains deck though
it had limited space.

Along with the rest of the
men he also would look the women over albeit on the sly. Of course the women knew he did it and
actually enjoyed the attention save for a couple of the older unmarried ones.

Sailing had been uneventful
so far; the pirates having been brought under control, their ships were sunk, and
their havens now under the control of government militia.

There was a brief stopover
for water, fruits and vegetables at a Caribbean
island and it was off again.